Heat Sink for a Square Camera

ABSTRACT

A camera having a substantially cubic form factor comprises, among other components, an image sensor, a lens assembly, a printed circuit board, and a heat sink. A heat sink operates to provide a thermally conductive path to an external surface of the camera. The heat sink comprises an external portion structured around a perimeter of the lens window and at least one arm extending perpendicular from the external portion to the interior of the camera. The at least one arm is thermally coupled to the at least one electronic component on the printed circuit board so as to conduct heat away from the electronics to the exterior of the camera.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to a camera system, and morespecifically to a heat sink for a camera system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Digital cameras are becoming faster and more powerful. As theircapabilities improve, the processing power consumed to enable the fasterspeeds and greater resolution increases significantly. As powerconsumption increases, it is beneficial to dissipate heat from theelectronics to prevent the components from malfunctioning or becomingdamaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed embodiments have other advantages and features which willbe more readily apparent from the following detailed description of theinvention and the appended claims, when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a camera, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 1B illustrates an alternative perspective view of a camera,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of selected components of a camera,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3A illustrates a first perspective view of front structure of acamera, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3B illustrates a second perspective view of front structure of acamera, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3C illustrates a planar view of front structure of a camera,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a front structure of a camera having heat sink armsthermally coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB), according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 5A illustrates a first view of a front structure of a camera and anI/O assembly, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5B illustrates a second view of a front structure of a camera andan I/O assembly, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Figures (FIGS.) and the following description relate to preferredembodiments by way of illustration only. It should be noted that fromthe following discussion, alternative embodiments of the structures andmethods disclosed herein will be readily recognized as viablealternatives that may be employed without departing from the principlesof what is claimed.

Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying figures. It is noted thatwherever practicable similar or like reference numbers may be used inthe figures and may indicate similar or like functionality. The figuresdepict embodiments of the disclosed system (or method) for purposes ofillustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize fromthe following description that alternative embodiments of the structuresand methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing fromthe principles described herein.

Example Configuration Overview

A camera comprises, among other components, an image sensor, a lensassembly, a printed circuit board, and a heat sink. A front face of thecamera includes a lens window. Light entering the lens window isdirected by the lens assembly to the image sensor. A printed circuitboard includes at least one electronic component to process the imagescaptured by the image sensor. In an embodiment, the printed circuitboard is oriented substantially perpendicular to the front face of thecamera. The electronics of the printed circuit board may generate asubstantial amount of heat when in operation. A heat sink operates toprovide a thermally conductive path to an external surface of thecamera. For example, in one embodiment, the heat sink comprises anexternal portion structured around a perimeter of the lens window and atleast one arm extending perpendicular from the external portion to theinterior of the camera. The at least one arm is thermally coupled to theat least one electronic component on the printed circuit board so as toconduct heat away from the electronics to the exterior of the camera.

In an embodiment, the camera comprises a substantially cubic camerahousing comprising a bottom face, left face, right face, back face, andtop face each comprising a first material. The housing substantiallyencloses the lens assembly. A front face of the camera comprises asubstantially square lens window and a front face perimeter portionsurrounding the lens window. The front face perimeter portion includes asecond material having a thermal conductivity substantially higher thanthe first material and is thermally coupled to heat-producing internalelectronics of the camera to dissipate heat from the heat-producinginternal electronics during operation.

In another embodiment, the camera further includes a memory card slothaving an opening on a side face of the camera. The memory card slot isoriented diagonally relative to the front face of the camera such thatacute angles are formed between the side face of the camera having theopening and the memory card slot, and between a bottom face of thecamera and the memory card slot. The heat sink is structured such thatthe at least one arm extends into the interior of the camera through anopening between the side face of the camera, the bottom face of thecamera, and the memory card slot.

Square Camera Overview

FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate perspective views of an example square camera100, according to one embodiment. The square camera 100 comprises atleast one cross-section having four approximately equal length sides ina two-dimensional plane. Although the cross-section is substantiallysquare, the corners of the cross-section may be rounded in someembodiments (e.g., a rounded square or squircle). The exterior of thesquare camera 100 includes 6 surfaces (i.e. a front face, a left face, aright face, a back face, a top face, and a bottom face). In theillustrated embodiment, the exterior surfaces substantially conform to arectangular cuboid, which may have rounded or unrounded corners. In oneexample embodiment, all camera surfaces may also have a substantiallysquare (or rounded square) profile, making the square camera 100substantially cubic. In alternate embodiments, only two of the six faces(e.g., the front face 110 and back face 140) have equal length sides andthe other faces may be other shapes, such as rectangles. The squarecamera 100 can have a small form factor (e.g. a height of 2 cm to 9 cm,a width of 2 cm to 9 cm, and a depth of 2 cm to 9 cm) and is made of arigid material such as plastic, rubber, aluminum, steel, fiberglass, ora combination of materials.

In an embodiment, the square camera 100 includes a camera lens window102 surrounded by a front face perimeter portion 108 on a front face110, an interface button 104 and a display 114 on a top face 120, an I/Odoor 106 on a side face 130, and a back door 112 on a back face 140. Thecamera lens window 102 comprises a transparent or substantiallytransparent material (e.g., glass or plastic) that enables light to passthrough to an internal lens assembly. In one embodiment, the camera lenswindow 102 is substantially flat (as opposed to a convex lens windowfound in many conventional cameras). The front face 110 of the camera100 furthermore comprises a front face perimeter portion 108 thatsurrounds the lens window 102. In one embodiment, the front faceperimeter portion 108 comprises a thermally conductive material (e.g.,metal) and provides an external surface to dissipate heat fromcomponents internal to the camera 100 as will be described below. In oneembodiment, the front face perimeter portion 108 comprises a set ofscrews to secure the front face perimeter portion 108 to the remainderof the housing of the camera 100 and to hold the lens window 102 inplace. In one embodiment, the remainder of the housing of the camera 100(not including the front face 110) comprises a material such as rubberor plastic that has substantially lower thermal conductivity than thefront face perimeter portion 108. These surfaces therefore enable a userto comfortably hold or interact with the camera without the user havingto directly contact the thermally conductive portion, which may becomehot to the touch during operation.

The interface button 104 provides a user interface that when activatedenables a user to control various functions of the camera 100. Forexample, pressing the button 104 may control the camera to power on orpower off, take pictures or record video, save a photo, adjust camerasettings, or perform any other action relevant to recording or storingdigital media. In one embodiment, the interface button 104 may performdifferent functions depending on the type of interaction (e.g., shortpress, long press, single tap, double tap, triple tap, etc.) Inalternative embodiments, these functions may also be controlled by othertypes of interfaces such as a knob, a switch, a dial, a touchscreen,voice control, etc. Furthermore, the camera 100 may have more than oneinterface button 104 or other controls. The display 114 comprises, forexample, a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display(LCD) or other type of display for displaying various types ofinformation such as camera status and menus. In alternative embodiments,the interface button 104, display 106, and/or other interface featuresmay be located elsewhere on the camera 100.

The I/O door 106 provides a protective cover for various input/outputports of the camera 100. For example, in one embodiment, the camera 100includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port and/or a High-DefinitionMedia Interface (HDMI) port, and a memory card slot accessible behindthe I/O door 106. In other embodiments, additional or differentinput/output ports may be available behind the I/O door 106 or elsewhereon the camera 100.

The back door 112 provides a protective cover that when removed enablesaccess to internal components of the camera 100. For example, in oneembodiment, a removable battery is accessible via the back door 112.

In some embodiments, the square camera 100 described herein includesfeatures other than those described below. For example, instead of asingle interface button 104, the square camera 100 can includeadditional buttons or different interface features, such as a microphoneopening to receive voice or other audio commands, speakers, and/orvarious input/output ports.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view illustrating a subset of the components ofthe camera 100 including a front structure 250, a PCB 260, an integratedlens and sensor assembly 270, and a housing 280. Other internalcomponents of the camera 100 (e.g., a battery, memory card slot, I/Oports, various circuit components, structural components, etc.) areomitted from the FIG. 2 for ease of description. As illustrated, anintegrated lens and sensor assembly 270 comprises one or more lenses272, a lens barrel 274 (which may include additional internal lenses),and an image sensor printed circuit board (PCB) 276. The image sensorPCB 276 comprises an image sensor and associated circuitry that capturesimages and/or video from light passing through the lens window 102, lens272, and lens barrel 274. The lens 272 can be any type of optical lensthat facilitates capturing images or video, such as a wide-angle lens,an adjustable lens, a macro lens, and the like.

The PCB 260 comprises additional electronics for performing variouscamera functions. For example, the PCB 260 may comprise one or moredigital signal processors (e.g., an image processor, video processor,and/or image capture accelerator), one or more general purposeprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more memorycontrollers, one or more interface controllers, or other associatedelectronics.

Certain components of the PCB 260, particularly components such as highpower image and video processing components, may generate a significantamount of heat during operation. Absent adequate heat dissipation, thesecomponents may overheat causing performance of the camera 100 to sufferor causing permanent damage to the electronics. In order to adequatelydissipate heat, the high power electronics include thermal contacts 262that thermally couple to heat sink arms 252 of the front structure 250when the camera 100 is assembled. In one embodiment, the thermalcontacts 262 are the top surface of the integrated circuits and are of amaterial conventionally used in integrated circuits. Alternatively, thethermal contacts 262 may comprise a material designed to increasethermal conductivity from the integrated circuits to the heat sink arms252. The heat sink arms 252 are thermally coupled to the front perimeterportion 108 and collectively act to dissipate heat from the electronicson the PCB 260 to the external surface of the camera 100. In oneembodiment, the heat sink arms 252 comprise a thermally conductivematerial (e.g., metal). Furthermore, in one embodiment, the frontperimeter portion 108 and heat sink arms 252 comprise the same materialand are a unibody construction so as to provide efficient heatdissipation.

In an embodiment, the front structure 250 comprises two heat sink arms252 that respectively physically contact (and thermally couple)different integrated circuits on the PCB 260. In this manner, thedifferent integrated circuits have some thermal isolation from eachother in order to reduce heat transfer from one component to another.

As shown in the illustrated embodiment, the image sensor PCB 276 isoriented substantially parallel to the lens window 102 when assembledwhile the PCB 260 is oriented in a plane substantially perpendicular tothe lens window 102 and the image sensor PCB 276.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate additional views of the front structure 250showing the structure of the heat sink arms 252.

FIG. 4 illustrates the front structure 250 and PCB 260 in the assembledcamera 100 with other components of the camera 100 omitted. As can beseen, the heat sink arms 252 are structured so that they make physicalcontact with the thermal contacts 262 on the PCB 260. In one embodiment,the bottom surface of the heat sink arms 252 and the thermal contacts262 are substantially flat so as to provide substantial surface area forconducting heat between the thermal contacts 262 and the heat sink arms252.

FIG. 5A illustrates an embodiment of the front structure 250 and an I/Oassembly 510 including a memory card slot 512 and an I/O port 514. Othercomponents of the camera 100 are omitted from this figure for clarity.In one embodiment, the I/O assembly 510 is accessible behind the I/Odoor 106 described above. The I/O port 514 includes a communication portfor communicating data to and from the camera. The I/O port 514 maycomprise, for example, a USB port or an HDMI port. The memory card slot512 is structured to receive a memory card for storing image and/orvideo data captured by the camera 100. In one embodiment, the memorycard slot 512 has an opening on a side face of the camera 100 and isoriented diagonally relative to the front face of the camera 100 suchthat acute angles are formed between the side face of the camera havingthe opening to the memory card slot 512 and between the memory card slot512 and a bottom face of the camera 100. Furthermore, in one embodiment,one of the heat sink arms 252 extends into a volume between the sideface, the bottom, face, and the memory card slot 512. In one embodiment,the top surface of the heat sink arm 252 is angled to substantiallymatch the angle of the memory card slot 512 so as to efficiently usephysical space available within the square camera 100. FIG. 5B providesa view of the memory card slot 502 from the front of the camera 100. Thediagonal orientation of the memory card slot 512 beneficially allowsspace for the centrally positioned integrated lens and sensor assembly270, the heat sink arms 252, and other camera electronics.

Additional Configuration Considerations

Throughout this specification, some embodiments have used the expression“coupled” along with its derivatives. The term “coupled” as used hereinis not necessarily limited to two or more elements being in directphysical or electrical contact. Rather, the term “coupled” may alsoencompass two or more elements are not in direct contact with eachother, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other, or arestructured to provide a thermal conduction path between the elements.

Likewise, as used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof,are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus.

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the invention. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular element, feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs for thedescribed embodiments as disclosed from the principles herein. Thus,while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are notlimited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein.Various modifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

1. A camera, comprising: an image sensor to capture images; a front facecomprising a lens window; a lens assembly for directing light receivedthrough the lens window to the image sensor; a printed circuit boardoriented substantially perpendicular to the front face of the camera,the printed circuit board comprising at least one electronic componentmounted on a surface of the printed circuit board, the at least oneelectronic component to process the images captured by the image sensor,the at least one electronic component generating heat when in operation;and a heat sink comprising an external portion structured around aperimeter of the lens window of the front face of the camera and atleast one arm extending perpendicular from the external portion to theinterior of the camera, the at least one arm thermally coupled to the atleast one electronic component on the printed circuit board so as toprovide a thermally conductive path for the heat generated by the atleast one electronic component to an external surface of the camera. 2.The camera of claim 1, wherein the at least one arm comprises a firstarm thermally coupled to a first electronic component and a second armthermally coupled to a second electronic component.
 3. The camera ofclaim 1, further comprising: an integrated housing including the frontface and a second housing portion, wherein the integrated housingencloses the image sensor, the lens assembly, and the printed circuitboard, wherein the second housing portion has a substantially lowerthermal conductivity than the heat sink.
 4. The camera of claim 1,further comprising: an integrated housing having a substantially cubicform factor, wherein the integrated housing includes the front face anda second housing portion, wherein the integrated housing encloses theimage sensor, the lens assembly, and the printed circuit board.
 5. Thecamera of claim 1, wherein the lens window is substantially square. 6.The camera of claim 1, further comprising: a memory card slot having anopening on a side face of the camera, the memory card slot orienteddiagonally relative to the front face of the camera such that acuteangles are formed between the side face of the camera having the openingand the memory card slot, and between a bottom face of the camera andthe memory card slot.
 7. The camera of claim 6, wherein a first arm ofthe at least one arm extends between the memory card slot, the side faceof the camera, and the bottom face of the camera.
 8. The camera of claim1, wherein the lens assembly comprises an image sensor printed circuitboard oriented substantially parallel to the lens window.
 9. A camera,comprising: an image sensor to capture images; a front face comprising alens window; a lens assembly for directing light received through thelens window to an image sensor; a printed circuit board comprising atleast one electronic component mounted on a surface of the printedcircuit board, the at least one electronic component to process theimages captured by the image sensor, the at least one electroniccomponent generating heat when in operation; a memory card slot havingan opening on a side face of the camera, the memory card slot orienteddiagonally relative to the front face of the camera such that acuteangles are formed between the side face of the camera having the openingand the memory card slot, and between a bottom face of the camera andthe memory card slot; and a heat sink comprising an external portionstructured around a perimeter of the lens window and at least one armextending into the interior of the camera through an opening between theside face of the camera, the bottom face of the camera, and the memorycard slot, the at least one arm thermally coupled to the at least oneelectronic component on the printed circuit board so as to provide athermally conductive path for the heat generated by the at least oneelectronic component to an external surface of the camera.
 10. Thecamera of claim 9, wherein the printed circuit board is orientedsubstantially perpendicular to the front face of the camera.
 11. Thecamera of claim 9, wherein the lens assembly comprises an image sensorprinted circuit board oriented substantially parallel to the lenswindow, the image sensor printed circuit board comprising an imagesensor to capture image data based on light directed through the lensassembly.
 12. The camera of claim 9, wherein the lens window issubstantially square.
 13. The camera of claim 9, wherein the at leastone arm comprises a first arm thermally coupled to a first electroniccomponent and a second arm thermally coupled to a second electroniccomponent.
 14. The camera of claim 9, further comprising: an integratedhousing including the front face and a second housing portion, whereinthe integrated housing encloses the image sensor, the lens assembly, andthe printed circuit board, wherein the second housing portion has asubstantially lower thermal conductivity than the heat sink.
 15. Thecamera of claim 9, further comprising: an integrated housing having asubstantially cubic form factor, wherein the integrated housing includesthe front face and a second housing portion, wherein the integratedhousing encloses the image sensor, the lens assembly, and the printedcircuit board.
 16. A camera, comprising: a lens assembly for directinglight received through a lens window to an image sensor; a first portionof a substantially cubic camera housing enclosing the lens assembly, thefirst portion of the substantially cubic camera housing comprising abottom face, left face, right face, back face, and top face eachcomprising a first material; a front face of the substantially cubiccamera housing comprising a substantially square lens window and a frontface perimeter portion surrounding the lens window, the front faceperimeter portion comprising a material having a thermal conductivitysubstantially higher than the first material, wherein the front faceperimeter portion is thermally coupled to heat-producing internalelectronics of the camera to dissipate heat from the heat-producinginternal electronics during operation.
 17. The camera of claim 16,further comprising: a printed circuit board internal to the camera, theprinted circuit board comprising at least one electronic componentmounted on a surface of the printed circuit board, the at least oneelectronic component to process images captured by the image sensor, theat least one electronic component generating heat when in operation; anda heat sink comprising the front face perimeter portion and at least onearm extending perpendicular from the external portion to the interior ofthe camera, the at least one arm thermally coupled to the at least oneelectronic component on the printed circuit board so as to provide athermally conductive path for the heat generated by the at least oneelectronic component to an external surface of the camera.
 18. Thecamera of claim 17, wherein the printed circuit board is orientedsubstantially perpendicular to the front face of the camera.
 19. Thecamera of claim 16, wherein the lens assembly comprises an image sensorprinted circuit board oriented substantially parallel to the lenswindow, the image sensor printed circuit board comprising an imagesensor to capture image data based on light directed through the lensassembly.
 20. The camera of claim 16, further comprising: a memory cardslot having an opening on a side face of the camera, the memory cardslot oriented diagonally relative to the front face of the camera suchthat acute angles are formed between the side face of the camera havingthe opening and the memory card slot, and between a bottom face of thecamera and the memory card slot.
 21. The camera of claim 20, furthercomprising: a heat sink comprising the front face perimeter portion andat least one arm extending perpendicular from the external portion tothe interior of the camera, the at least one arm thermally coupled tothe at least one electronic component on the printed circuit board so asto provide a thermally conductive path for the heat generated by the atleast one electronic component to an external surface of the camera,wherein a first arm of the at least one arm extends between the memorycard slot, the side face of the camera, and the bottom face of thecamera.